Stepping Stones Montessori School & Cushnoc Academy Newsletter
January 2015
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Thought for the month:
“All religions, arts and sciences are
branches of the same tree.”
Albert Einstein
Make New Friends and Keep the Old! Planning
Programs for Next Year We look forward to some
improvements in our programming next year. We are looking at
providing a partial transportation service. We also want to
attract some outside qualified students to our middle school
program, and finally to augment afterschool clubs offerings with
outreach to students in the greater community. A survey will be
sent your way shortly to assess the transportation service level
of interest. By early next week, re-enrollment materials will
also be sent home.
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After Care Checklist!
Help your child clean up (even if others are using the
material)
Tell the duty teacher that you are taking our child. Please
tell others who pick up your child to tell the duty teacher!
After care ends at 5pm. You should arrive before 5pm as it
takes time to pack up things, especially in winter time. We need
to lock the doors at 5pm! Thank you.
Important Dates
Fri, Jan 16
Cushnoc Academy Highlighter Dance
Upper Elem Rescheduled Star Night
See description p. 3
Friday, Jan 16
Backwards Day (SSMS Spirit Day )
Monday, Jan 19
No School, Martin Luther King Day
Friday, Jan 23
Lower Elementary Arctic Museum
(Rescheduled date) Depart 9am.
Mon, Jan 26 , 5pm
SSMS Enrichment Foundation
Meeting (all parents welcome)
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Winter Carnival
Saturday, Jan 31
Winter Carnival
See description at left
The middle school students are putting on a Winter Carnival for the school
and community. This is a major fundraiser for our Washington, DC trip this
Spring. The Carnival will take place on Sat, Jan 31 at the school from 113:30pm. We will have games to play and prizes to win! Face painting will be
available from 11 to 2. There will be a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction. Food
and drinks, such as cotton candy, popcorn, and fried dough, will be available.
We are asking the community to donate baskets to be auctioned off. The creator of a basket that brings in the most money will
receive half of the earnings for that basket. We would also like baked goods for our cake walk. All donations are greatly
appreciated, and bring your whole family for a day of fun!
Primary News
Lower Elementary News
It’s hard to believe we are halfway through the
month of January already!
January has brought our tri-annual trip to the
Arctic and Antarctic! We began last week in
familiary territory of Northern North America,
which borders the Arctic Ocean. We
discovered that two other continents also
border it, Europe and Asia, and made maps
showing the continents that touch the Arctic
Circle.
Although most of us are probably glad December is
behind us, the children thoroughly enjoyed our
Holidays Around the World theme. For some, it was
an introduction to our seven continents. Whereas
for our older students, it reiterated the landforms
and location of continents.
We covered several holiday traditions, and
celebrations from almost all the different
continents. Our observant little students were able
to study a variety of cultural differences, yet they
noticed that almost all of these winter celebrations
involved special decorations, lights of some sort,
and yummy feasts. They were delighted to find that
so many holidays from far away could be so similar
to those at home!
Hopefully you were all able to attend our annual
holiday show at Togus Theatre, where the children
performed our multicultural array of songs to
correlate with our study. They performed
wonderfully!
2015 has taken us back to the middle ages as we are
now in the study of kings, queens, castles and
everything medieval! Since fairy tales usually take
place in similar settings, we have been reading lots
of them; they are a comfortable favorite for this
age group.
We have some fun activities planned involving this
unit, including writing our own fairy tales and
working through a story sequence.
Although the weather has been bitterly cold,
preventing recess many days, we have tried to stay
active and moving through indoor dancing and
yoga! Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we
can finally utilize the sledding hill outside.
Our field trip to the Arctic Museum at
Bowdoin has been rescheduled to Jan 23, but
never fear, we took a trip in the meantime to
Antarctica this week. Antarctica has three
major oceans that border it and we have
been learning about how the Arctic is water
surrounded by land, whereas the Antarctic is
frozen land surrounded by water. This week
we are tracing Antarctica maps and labeling
several features of Antarctica and its borders.
Of course we have to learn about penguins
while in Antarctica (in keeping with our
characteristics of classes of animals studies
this year). We are discovering the many
features and adaptations of birds, especially
penguins currently, and their amazing
abilities. We are conducting experiments and
observations over these few weeks about
blubber, oily feathers, carrying eggs like an
Emporer Penguin, etc.
Meanwhile, we continue to read The Little
House on the Prairie. This class novel is an
extension of our earlier Native Americans and
colonist unit. We are discovering how
difficult the simplest things were, living on
the prairie, like building a door and digging a
well.
We have stepped up our Writer’s Workshop
requirements and time to include time on
Thursdays and Fridays. Auntie, Mary Jane,
and Jill Avery are assisting in our Writer’s
Workshop. Thank you!
Upper Elementary News
Middle School News
The Middle Schoolers are finishing up their first
novels in literature circles. We will soon be
starting the second set of novels. In writing,
students are working on personification
stories, where they turn a city into a person!
In science we have been studying the Solar System
and the Cosmos and kids are getting ready for Star
Night which will, hopefully, be held on Jan.16. We
will have pizza, play astronomy games, pick out the
major constellations, use the “scopes”, get up early
and view Saturn, and watch a movie (not
necessarily in that order).
We are continuing our studies on the Civil War and
have investigated the major problems of both
Lincoln and Jeff Davis at the start of the war.
Students are learning about slavery, states’ rights,
abolitionists, Civil War period technologies, the
important generals on both sides, and some
personal accounts from soldiers and their loved
ones. We are using several sources including our
CW text, original newspapers and artifacts, Ken
Burn’s Civil War PBS series, and a variety of books.
We are also reading the book Rebel Hart which is
about a true-life Confederate Civil War spy by the
name of Nancy Hart. She led raids on Federal
troops and installations in the West Virginia area
during the War.
During the month of December, 4th and 5th grade Language Arts
students finished up reading the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.
Also, they handed in their 2nd book reports. For a group project
the students were split into two groups. Students in both groups
worked together to make one map of Donn's (Lost on a Mountain
in Maine) and Brian's (Hatchet) travels and surroundings.
Before Winter Break students also were introduced to Similes and
Metaphors. For the next few weeks we'll be learning about
commas and how to use them properly. We will also continue
work on Similes and Metaphors. Some book report due dates
needed to be changed. New product descriptors (blue papers)
have been sent home with students. Please email me if you have
any questions: [email protected]
In Apprenticeship, students have looked ahead
into the future and created a path they could
conceivably follow in order to pursue a chosen
career. Students are beginning to think of ideas
for their research papers.
We have been reviewing the Civil War,
Reconstruction, and Civics in Social Studies.
While learning about Civics, we have been
going over strategies to use when taking a test.
Our main focus was on highlighting important
information and identifying what information
questions are asking us to find. We are now
learning about the period in American history
between Reconstruction and World War 1.
Our math classes have been restructured. We
will now be focusing on reviewing old lessons,
learning problem solving strategies, and solving
division problems. We will still be moving
forward in our books, but are working on these
fundamental skills as we go.
Middle School Science
We are beginning the study of earth
science with a text that parallels our
previous one for chemistry. Students are
currently studying minerals, identification
techniques, uses, and mining strategies.
We have completed the first chapter.